I'm 21 now, and I've lived in Manurewa all my life. I went to Manurewa Kindy and Central School but when I was about 12, my mum decided to home school me. She still wanted me to have some social consciousness and be involved in the community. My mum's a bit of an activist, she's a really community-minded person. She took me to a meeting one day and the [then] deputy mayor was there, Anne Candy. Anne said they needed more young people like me on boards, that there needed to be more youth voices and my mum really encouraged me.
For me, Manurewa means connectedness and diversity. It means lots of of vibrant, different cultures all living together. Although there's a lot of poverty here too, which is why I belong to the Manurewa Youth Council. I have been a part of it since I was about 12. We run youth events, youth forums and expos on education and employment. We also do a lot of youth advocacy. There are about 12 elected members, ranging from about 13- to 23-year-olds, I'm the chairperson.
Growing up here, I'm aware of the different social issues, and I've seen the problems get worse, there's a lot of deprivation. Another trust I'm involved with is called the Beacon Fellowship. Our members go out at night on patrols from 10pm to 6am, we see kids walking round in the middle of the night. The youngest we picked up was 5 years old - at 1am just walking round. We asked him where his mum was, and he didn't know, and it's not the only case like that. My worry is, what would happen if we weren't there? The patrols go out every night but I only do Fridays and Saturdays because I work full time. My full-time job is with Genesis Youth Trust where I'm a social worker, and all this stuff connects together.
There's lots of cool stuff here too, some really nice coastal walks. I've got a chihuahua and my mum has two jack russells so we take our dogs for lots of walks. Weymouth Park is almost like a private beach, and you can go fishing there, and walk dogs and play sports on the huge fields. The sun sets on that coast and every night the sky turns this amazing shade of orange. The houses should be worth millions, because of those views, but they're not because they're in Manurewa.
